The Storm

A couple of weeks ago there was a storm. When I heard the first thunder, I was out in the garden, enjoying the sunshine. I set my phone to record, and sat in the shelter watching the rain.

The storm lasted just under half an hour, and I determined that I would use the recording on a tune. I’d intended to chop it into bits, and use them as intros and outros to a collection of tunes. Then I listened back to the storm, and decided instead to leave it in one piece, and just work around it with some synths.

I went through about 100 synths, playing around with notes, chords, arpeggiators, twiddly knobs, pedals, until I had about 15 that I either really liked, or thought would make interesting white noise, or that sounded like anything from Tron or Blade Runner.

I recorded random bits of melody, and odd chords, at various points throughout the storm, then gradually added bits in between. After some editing, which I found really methodical and soothing, I had something that was starting to sound coherent.

I will most likely end up adding more to it at some point, or playing about with the levels, but as a first draft, I think is ready.

I’ll warn you now though, it’s actually half an hour long, so, you know, I won’t be offended if it’s not for you.

P4

Moving forward

I dreamed I was a robot

A story album

So, I'm planning to finish my instrumental album soon, im up to 9 of the planned 10 tracks, and it occurred to me that it might work as a story. Here's what I've got so far...

As technology surpasses medical science, and as Isaac's sense of his human imperfection grows, he dreams of being a robot. He dreams of immortality, of living to see the distant future. When his body begins to fail him, he gradually has each part replaced with technology, gradually becoming more and more robot. 

Everything was made entirely on iPhone 4s with garageband and ikaossilator 

#oneironaut#

In a dream, Isaac sees a future where he is entirely mechanical

#I did not go to work today#

Isaac has known for some time that he will die. He has been continuing to work, but has now earned enough to have the surgery that will not only save, but prolong his life, but will also be a step towards both his dream, and his fear of losing his humanity 

#And the light burned our eyes#

Isaac stares at the sun, frustrated that he is only able to perceive a fraction of the information coming from the source of all life on Earth. As he stares, he imagines having the ability to see the full spectrum, the dance of infra-red, as she flirts with ultra-violet. His thoughts become a self-fulfilling prophecy as his staring irreparably burns his eyes. He wakes up with a synthetic pair, and is finally able to see everything. He realises how much better the robot parts are, and that his unconscious will is driving his inevitable metamorphosis 

#O captain, my captain#

Isaac tries running for the first time on his bionic legs. The dynamo generators in his new legs recharge as he runs, and he feels free in a way he never has before. He finally gets to see all facets of life as he runs through places he's only dreamed of before, and realises that he will outlive all of it. For the first time he realises that his transformation is both blessing and curse

#the more I try#

The conflict grows inside Isaac. The more he tries to cling to his humanity, the more he realises that what makes him human also makes him frail. Eventually he accepts that as long as his consciousness remains, it will be better served by the technology, which is better than his human organs in every way other than cognitively. 

#My blood type is early adopter#

Isaac is now half way to fulfilling his dream of being a robot. He is struggling to bear the pain of his failing human parts, which are now in their 70th year of being. Though scared of losing his humanity, he concludes that he his most human quality is the desire to improve, to better himself. He takes the decision to have all but his brain fully replaced. 

#Ampersand#

Lying in a hospital bed, Isaac hears a street musician through the open window. Drifting in and out of consciousness from the cocktail of drugs running through the remaining human organs, he dreams he is playing along with the musician, his robotic movements adding rhythms and counter rhythms as the musician plays 

#We are groot#

Now mostly machine, Isaac finds that he can draw energy from the life all around him. The tiny electric charges carried by all living things. A walk in the forest becomes a trip, as the many different sources of energy flow into him. 

#I dreamed I was a robot#

Isaac has now outlived all of humankind, their frail bodies unable to withstand the ever increasing temperatures that come with climate change. Isaac reflects on when he was vulnerable and his dream of being a robot. He has seen everything, survived the apocalypse, and is now utterly alone. Walking through a deserted and ruined city, overgrown with the few remaining plant species, he finds another robot, discarded and broken. Picking up the body, he sets off on a journey to find the means to repair his new friend 

#rest in beats#

In darkness as the sun has finally burned out, Isaac, having long since given up on the human concepts of time measurement, instead follows the rhythms of the universe - stars exploding, galaxies collapsing.